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The Visible Trial: Judicial Assessment As Adjudication, Tracey E. George, Albert H. Yoon
The Visible Trial: Judicial Assessment As Adjudication, Tracey E. George, Albert H. Yoon
University of Colorado Law Review
Only a small fraction of lawsuits ends in trial—a phenomenon termed the “vanishing trial.” Critics of the declining trial rate see a remote, increasingly regressive judicial system. Defenders see a system that allows parties to resolve disputes independently. Analyzing criminal and civil filings in federal district court for the forty-year period from 1980 to 2019, we confirm a steady decline in the absolute and relative number of trials. We find, however, this emphasis on trial rate obscures courts’ vital role and ignores parties’ goals. Judges adjudicate disputes directly by ruling or effectively through other assessments of the parties’ cases. Even …